[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 23407]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING THE LIFE OF PETER STROH

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN D. DINGELL

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 25, 2003

  Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a remarkable 
businessman, a dedicated philanthropist, a civic activist, a committed 
conservationist, and a splendid humanitarian: Peter Stroh. He was one 
of the finest men I have known, and as we celebrate the centennial year 
of the National Wildlife Refuge system, I want to convey the thanks and 
gratitude of the people of Michigan to Mr. Stroh and his family.
  Peter Stroh was a lifelong Michigander. Born in Detroit in 1927, he 
returned to the city in 1951 after completing his education at 
Princeton. He had hoped to join the United States Foreign Service, but 
circumstances forced him to take over the family's brewery. While our 
diplomatic corps will never know its loss, the people of Detroit and 
Michigan will never forget his contributions.
  The Stroh's Brewery was founded in Detroit in 1850. Peter Stroh was 
able to turn his family's brewery into the third largest beer maker in 
the nation. But business success was not the focus of Peter's life. He 
understood that the true measure of a successful life was not the 
bottom line of a balance sheet, but rather the legacy of one's 
contribution to their community.
  Standing on the roof of the Detroit brew house in 1967, he mournfully 
watched as riots burned the city that he loved. At his retirement he 
recalled, ``I felt that we, as Detroit stakeholders, had to take some 
responsibility for what happened in Detroit, and our company would have 
to take some responsibility for helping to prevent it from happening 
again.'' He dedicated the final thirty-five years of his life to that 
proposition.
  He served on the board of almost every organization that was working 
to solve Detroit's problems and build a new future for the city. He was 
on the Board of the Urban League of Detroit, Detroit Renaissance, and 
chaired the NAACP Freedom Fund Dinner. He helped create the Detroit 
Medical Center and later served as its chair. He spearheaded the 
development of River Place. That project has grown to 600,000 square 
feet of office space, 350 residential units and the OMNI/River Place 
Hotel.
  Mr. Speaker, it was Peter's love of the natural world that brought us 
to work closely and collaborate on the creation of the Detroit River 
International Wildlife Refuge. He was an avid fisherman, he loved the 
water and would spend much of his free time either fishing the waters 
of Michigan or going to the best fishing spots around the world. He 
recognized that as Detroit and southeastern Michigan developed, it had 
the unintended effect of cutting people off from the natural beauty of 
the river and the surrounding lakes.
  The Detroit River Refuge will be at the center of the national 
celebration for the 100th birthday of the National Wildlife Refuge 
System. Secretary Norton will be there, as well as hundreds of 
dignitaries, community and business leaders, and many more people from 
the area who fish, hike, and boat along the Detroit River every day. 
The Wildlife Refuge is Peter's living legacy. Without his steadfast 
commitment this natural jewel might have been lost to development, 
pollution, and neglect.
  Mr. Speaker, Peter left us a year ago. His life was a testament to 
the positive influence that one person can make, not only in the lives 
of those who knew him, but to future generations who will enjoy his 
legacy. Years from now, people will find homes in the communities he 
built, jobs in the institutions he founded, and enjoy nature in an 
ecosystem he preserved. I ask my colleagues to join me in commemorating 
the life of a remarkable man, Peter Stroh.

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